Energy costs in the UK are typically much higher in the UK/EU than in the USA - and getting higher. In the UK, in August 2011 energy prices ranged from £0.10p-£0.21p per kWh, depending on usage, location and tariff (source ukpower.co.uk).

Perhaps UK and Europeans are more "ECO friendly" and DO shutdown their PC's more often than the US reports suggest?

BUT

Do you actually KNOW how many PC's are turned off at night, or put to sleep when not used in the day?

Most sites now have multiple monitors, more powerful PC's and are using even more energy.

Even if anecdotally you think UK/Europeans are more Eco aware and Eco friendly, can you measure it?

We recommend you simply try the service for yourself, set a baseline and measure your real world results by using the dozens of pre-formatted, easy to analyse reports.

It costs nothing, and there is nothing to lose - at worst you've spent an hour or two looking at some cool software, at best you have saved your organisation lots of money - and helped reduce CO2 emissions.

GUARANTEED savings or your money back. The Guarantee promises to reduce energy spend by more than twice the monthly service fee in the first month of use or it’s free. [more]

Yes.
All Windows versions from 2000, up to and including all R2 versions, Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 7 64-bit.

You can install the PwrSmart client onto a server Operating System such as Microsoft Windows 2003 server or 2008 Server (any version) however the client "knows" that this is a Server OS and NO POWER POLICY will ever be applied. The only reason for installing the PwrSmart client onto a Windows Server OS would be to control the "magic packet" used for Waking up PC's using PwrSmart. See our Tech KB's on this.

To run the Management console in a web browser, you will need Microsoft Silverlight, which if you don't already have it installed, you will be prompted to install it the first time you log into the web console.

Does PwrSmart support Mac OSX?

Yes. Mac OSX Lion and higher is now supported.

I can already set a lot of power settings in AD. How is PwrSmart different?

We have a document which outlines in full all the reasons why Active Directory policies are not efficient and not effective. Available from our datasheets page.

Just some of the reasons why PwrSmart is more effective include;

Only recent Windows 7 is fully compatible - and a 2008 R2 Domain must be used.

You cant have unique Power Management GPO's - you must use existing groups.

You cant configure alternate settings, for more liberal settings during the day for example.

You cant configure "stay awake" settings.

You cant override the OS idle time.

You cant stop power management being applied if certain applications are running.

You cant enforce power plans - users can change them.

You cant manage power plans, or make changes easily.

You cant report on usage, effectiveness, exceptions.

You don't have granularity on what / when / how.

You don't get any reports so cant measure results or compare savings.

You have no idea what your baseline usage is.

You don't get built in EPA recognised and recommended power plans.

You cant centrally manage Mac OSX power management

How do I know how much energy my PC's are using today, and how much CO2 emissions that means?

Deploy and try PwrSmart service, set a baseline and find out!

Can I configure my own "average" power consumption figures?

Yes. For example, as a standard Softek internally use high performance add-in graphics cards, and dual-LCD monitors - so we have to increase the standard value of our "average" desktop PC energy consumption wattage accordingly.

Does PwrSmart support Mac OSX.

Yes. Lion and above.

Is PwrSmart Secure?

PwrSmart Service is a web-based application running on cloud-based servers provisioned by New Boundary Technologies.

This architecture is very similar to other online services such as Salesforce, Webex, GoToMeeting, etc. PwrSmart administrators manage power schemes, analyse savings and run reports using the application’s web console.

Power settings on individual computers are enforced by the PwrSmart agent that is installed on managed PCs. Agents communicate with PwrSmart Service over HTTPS.

How is login access to the PwrSmart Management Console controlled?

PwrSmart Service provides an Authentication Service. Logins are controlled through this service using a strict password policy (8 character minimum plus at least 1 special character) and a limited number of retries.

When customers first subscribe, they are given an administrative login associated with their email address.

After logging in with that administrative account, the user can change the password and decide what other logins to create – who has access to PwrSmart and what their role is.

How is PwrSmart Client Agent deployed?

The recommended way is to deploy the agent via an Active Directory Machine Startup Script.

It is very quick and easy to do, and full instructions are provided or available from our KB's.

Standard, government / EPA approved, energy efficiency "templates" are provided for you to use, which you can reuse or customise to your liking and policy.

What about my servers, I don't want them powering down!?

You can install the PwrSmart client onto a server Operating System such as Microsoft Windows 2003 server or 2008 Server (any version), however the client "knows" that this is a Server OS and NO POWER POLICY will ever be applied.

The only reason for installing the PwrSmart client onto a Windows Server OS would be to control the "magic packet" used for Waking up PC's using PwrSmart. See our technical KB's for more details.

What about patch management - how will this work with the PC's asleep?

Your power policy can include settings to power PC's on certain days / times (such as Microsoft Patch Tuesday) to manage the patches / upgrades and such like. This feature is called Wakeup and is based on the standard "Wake on Lan" feature. See our technical KB's for more details.

Because the policies are so easy and flexible, should you have an extraordinary event - such as a major upgrade - you can quickly add in a one-off event to wake PC's up for this.

We do not charge any extra for Wakeup technology.

How does PwrSmart wake up PC's?

PwrSmart uses standard WAKE ON LAN technology built into virtually all modern network cards. You dont need to buy another product to wake your PC's up - Pwrsmart does it all.

I've got a PC running a backup program I don't want to power down - can I exempt it?

Yes, of course.

What do my users have to do?

Nothing at all. Its all seamless, behind the scenes policy changes.

Can I remotely turn on PC's?

Yes, via our new iPhone / iPad app.

How long does deployment take ?

Literally minutes.

Does the user notice any changes ?

Nothing apart from their PC' disk may have been parked, their PC put to sleep or their monitor(s) may be turned off more frequently - requiring a move of the mouse or touch of the keyboard.

We recommend letting your uses know that you are implementing such policies and why. We find users are very receptive, and keen to "do their bit".

We have notification templates for sending to end users should you require them.